Measuring functional connectivity with wearable MEG
Elena Boto,
Ryan M. Hill,
Molly Rea,
Niall Holmes,
Zelekha A. Seedat,
James Leggett,
Vishal Shah,
James Osborne,
Richard Bowtell,
Matthew J. Brookes
Affiliations
Elena Boto
Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom; Corresponding author.
Ryan M. Hill
Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
Molly Rea
Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
Niall Holmes
Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
Zelekha A. Seedat
Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
James Leggett
Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
Vishal Shah
QuSpin Inc., 331 South 104th Street, Suite 130, Louisville, 80027, CO, USA
James Osborne
QuSpin Inc., 331 South 104th Street, Suite 130, Louisville, 80027, CO, USA
Richard Bowtell
Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
Matthew J. Brookes
Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
Optically-pumped magnetometers (OPMs) offer the potential for a step change in magnetoencephalography (MEG) enabling wearable systems that provide improved data quality, accommodate any subject group, allow data capture during movement and potentially reduce cost. However, OPM-MEG is a nascent technology and, to realise its potential, it must be shown to facilitate key neuroscientific measurements, such as the characterisation of brain networks. Networks, and the connectivities that underlie them, have become a core area of neuroscientific investigation, and their importance is underscored by many demonstrations of their disruption in brain disorders. Consequently, a demonstration of network measurements using OPM-MEG would be a significant step forward. Here, we aimed to show that a wearable 50-channel OPM-MEG system enables characterisation of the electrophysiological connectome. To this end, we measured connectivity in the resting state and during a visuo-motor task, using both OPM-MEG and a state-of-the-art 275-channel cryogenic MEG device. Our results show that resting-state connectome matrices from OPM and cryogenic systems exhibit a high degree of similarity, with correlation values >70%. In addition, in task data, similar differences in connectivity between individuals (scanned multiple times) were observed in cryogenic and OPM-MEG data, again demonstrating the fidelity of the OPM-MEG device. This is the first demonstration of network connectivity measured using OPM-MEG, and results add weight to the argument that OPMs will ultimately supersede cryogenic sensors for MEG measurement.
